It's 7 p.m. I will call this meeting of the Richfield Housing and Redevelopment Authority of November 17, 2025 to order. Um we'll start with roll call. We've noted attendance. Thank you. >> You um taking us to item number three, open forum. So participants can always share their comments in person, by voice or email. You can always request to participate virtually. Um for more information on submitting comments, you can refer to the H agenda and minutes page on the city's website. Uh I don't think I see anyone here for open forum. Um but we'll just check. Did anyone call in? >> Not. >> We did not receive any calls. Thank you. Thank you. Um, taking us to item number four, approval of the agenda. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? >> Uh, so moved. >> Second. >> It has been moved and seconded to approve the agenda. Any comments, questions, concerns? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. Opposed. The agenda has been approved. >> Taking us to item number five, which is approval of the minutes. Uh, is there a motion to approve the minutes? >> So moved. Is there a second? >> Second. >> It has been moved and seconded to approve the minutes of the regular housing and redevelopment authority meeting of September 15, 2025. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. The motion passes. Uh we'll then move to item number six, presentations is our TIFF status presentation. Welcome. I'll hand it over to executive director Paleman to introduce. >> Yes, thank you. Today uh we have here uh from Ellers Rebecca Kurtz who is our financial uh analyst with Ellers. She's going to give us our annual update um on all 13 of our tiff districts. Thanks Rebecca. >> Thank you. Um again, Rebecca Curts with Ellers. I also just want to quickly introduce my co-orker Sylvia Johnson. um she is one of the faces behind the scenes at Ellers and works with us um a lot especially on the establishment of tip districts and getting um those documents together along with a whole host of other things but wanted to acknowledge her with me this evening. Um, as introduced, what we're going to discuss is the um, status of your tax increment districts. And I believe there's a PowerPoint that's on its way. Well, as we're getting that pulled up, um, there's really kind of three main points that we'll talk about today. Um, we're just going to do a quick overview of what is TIFF. Just a reminder at a very high level, um, we do a seminar in the spring and we can talk about this for hours and hours and hours. So, I'll try and give you the twominute version of what tax increment is. Um, >> sorry. No, that's okay. I wasn't sure if I if I was going to control it or if you were. Sorry. um just use arrows. Oh, okay. Um we can jump to the next slide then. Thank you. So, we'll spend just a couple minutes um refreshing on what is tax increment and then um some of you may recall that in 2023 we um worked with staff and did a really deep dive into the all of your tax increment districts um what the status was did projections on when things will anticipated to be descertified um any concerns that um may be out there. So we did a quick look or a deep dive in that in 2023. Um we have continued to review that and um so we will give an update on the challenges the opportunities that are out there um if there are any compliance things. There are um several different things that we're going to address for 2025 um as we look to year end. So, we'll talk about those and then um as mentioned here, give a review of the 2025 updates because um as you look at your agenda, there are some additional actions that we will want to consider prior to year end this year. So, um what is tax increment financing? Um the working definition of it is the ability to capture and use most of the increase in property taxes from new development within a defined geographic area. So very specific parcels for a specific period of time depending on the type of tip district um without approval from the city or without approval from the county and the school district. So, while the county and the school district do receive information, they are asked to provide comments, they're invited to the public hearing, ultimately with tax increment, it is that action that the city council takes after a public hearing that will decide whether or not city, county, and school taxes are captured through a tax increment district. Um there is the statutory site there if um anybody is interested in all of the details with that. So looking at that definition from a graphic standpoint, you can see uh the chart on the left is the way a property is prior to being in a tiff district. those taxes are being paid and they in this example are being divided fairly equally between the city, the county and the school district. When a tiff district is established and development occurs, you will see that those taxes to the city, county, and school district continue to go to those entities in that amount during the term of the tax increment district. However, you can see then on the right where you have the three colors that are u much larger representing city, county, and school taxes. Those are the tax increment that then can be pledged to whatever the qualifying cost is. Um we'll talk about this in a minute as we go through the the presentation more but typically um the city has provided that assistance to the developer in the form of a pay as you go note so that risk is put on the developer versus having the risk be on the H or the city. Um one thing I do want to note and these graphics are at a very high level. Um so the uh one thing that is not shown in the graphics is there is another t so these taxes are all based on tax capacity and tax increment captures on the tax capacity. There are market value referendum taxes that are also paid that are based on the market value of properties. For the most part um those typically are um related to school projects. There could be um some sometimes through a referendum on a city project, but most of the market value referendum taxes are tied to school taxes. Those cannot be captured or touched with tax increments. So in the event that you have this project on the right that moves forward with the new development, you see that um dramatic increase in taxes while the taxes that are tied to the tax capacity are captured through tiff. those market value referendum taxes again typically for the school would increase because you would see that increase in market value and that would be something that would come on immediately when a project is completed. Um you don't need to wait for the tax increment district to be descertified for that benefit. >> Um so does that mean that with like the referendum monies the school district still gets it during the whole life of the tiff? Um, correct. They would get that through the life of the tiff and when the value go increases because of the development that market value referendum money actually will increase um based on that increase in market value and that would happen immediately. So the first series the benefit of the um tiff is in place there would be a benefit of an increase in market value for this or referendum taxes. Okay, that's new information for me. Thank you. >> You're welcome. So, um taking that graphic and really projecting it forward over um in this example 10 years for residential. Um with that, you can see that it is shown where across those that entire time the city, county, and school are getting their taxes. the tax increment. Maybe it's a phase development. So year one, they get a benefit of some increase in development. By year two, the project is at full full value. Um they receive that through year 10. And then you can see in this example, year 11. um when the tip district is done, the city, county, and school all have a larger benefit of um tax capacity and that would come online at full value after the descertification of the district. I will call out um in our example here we do have have a residential example that is because there are other taxes um such as fiscal disparities or the um states commercial and industrial tax that is not captured through tax increment. So the graphic looks a little bit different when you start to put in that commercial piece. >> Yeah. Um I I have two questions about this and I'm going to have trouble expressing them clearly, but I'm going to do my best. So one, like had the property not been redeveloped, in most cases the value of it would slightly increase year to year, right? Like a in most cases an existing home that isn't touched increases a little bit in value over time. It >> is that accounted for at all or is it like literally frozen that this thing was worth a million dollars before, it would be worth exactly $1 million in 10 years? um it is um that that tax capacity literally is frozen. Okay. And so the argument with that and it really depends um on a lot of a lot of facts is that while we are used to like our home prices going up something typically each year or we would expect that. Um especially like when we look at redevelopment projects, that argument of the property or that base would go up regardless becomes a little more uncertain because depending on um if it's substandard buildings, a property that needs to be redeveloped, a lot of times we see that actually going down in value um versus depending again on how how um severe the redevelopment need is but with the the law the way it is written that tax capacity at the time it is established is flat and remains flat. >> Okay. And then there's two scenarios I'm wondering about. One is let's say everybody's value did remain exactly the same all properties but the jurisdiction the county increases their levy by 10%. Is the property that's subject to tiff still going to increase the amount they pay by 10% or 10% of the county share or are the taxes actually frozen at the dollar amount? >> So the tax capacity or the number that the tax increment is that is used to calculate the increment that is tied with the market value remains during the term of the district. Um tax increment itself is a formula that in very simple terms would be tax capacity times the tax rate. And so each year with each of the tiff districts outstanding the calculation look and and tax increment is calculated on the lower of the tax rate at the time the district was established or the current tax rate. So each year when um the tax increment calculations are being done, we look to say is do we use the rate at the time the district was established or do we use the current rate? Which one was lower? Now, in the event that um and the Cedar Grove or Cedar Point tiff district where um Schaefer Richardson's apartments are, >> the >> Thank you. [laughter] um for that district that the the um tax rate at the time that district was established is lower than your current tax rate. So in that situation, the tiff is that tax capacity times the lower rate which was the one at the time it was established. However, they pay property taxes based on the current pay 25 rate. And so there's a little bit of difference between the increment that's generated at the low rate or lower rate and your current rate. And that money comes back to the taxing that that spread comes back to the taxing entities. >> Okay, thanks. >> Does that all make sense? We're getting into the weeds here. They're great questions, but they're getting into the weeds, so I want to make sure I'm explaining it clearly for you. Okay. Um, so then if we look at the next slide, again, just a reminder, um, how can TIFF be used? And it depends on the type of district, but many of the common uses, um, tie with creating or retaining jobs, um, redeveloping blighted areas. The city has a long history of using tax increment in that way. Um remediating polluted sites, constructing affordable housing, again that is another goal that um Richfield has used tax increment for. And then all of these ultimately um increasing and sometimes diversifying the tax base for the community. So, as we look at the status of the city's tip districts, um the message I'm here to share tonight is that things are on track and um going well and we'll talk about this a little bit u more, but I think there's a lot of things that we can celebrate. Um as we go through tonight's discussion, um there are not any compliance issues. Um you may remember that there is an annual report filed with the state auditor. Um at this point we have no concerns with that. So again things are looking good. Um we'll talk about this a little bit more and follow up on the discussion from last year but there are some pooling opportunities available and they fall in three general buckets. Um one is 10% for the housing trust fund. Um, a second bucket is a temporary spending authority um that was allowed through special legislation. And then there is just the pooling that um is available for all of your redevelopment districts um that is part of the general tiff law. Um so as um introduced, the city does have and I know this is um tiny, but there are 13 current tip districts um ranging from um the the um nine that are shown here are all um active and performing and moving forward. Um or the 10 I should say. on the next page. Um there are three more and I'm going to spend a little bit of time tonight talking about the Lindale Gateway Interchange West District, the urban village district and the Emmy district because all of these um are are coming to an end. And so um we'll you'll see that we'll take or recommend taking some action on them as we move forward. >> [clears throat] >> So, as we look at um the impact of these three districts that are being um descertified um this evening or that we are recommending um being descertified and we can look to the next slide here. Um you can see that we are anticipating about um 1.9 million in additional tax capacity that will come on in 2026 with the descertification of these um districts. So again, something to um we would argue at Ellers definitely something to celebrate and that success of, you know, it's been a long time coming with especially the Lindale Gateway um Interchange West and Urban Village district. They were long districts. Um but as you look now to where we are today um there is a significant benefit in addition to the tax base because of the work that was done with those. Um looking a little bit farther into the future in 2030 um we are looking at the Lindale Gateway West. Do you want to back up one more quick? Thanks. Um yeah, thank you. the Lindale Gateway West or the Kensington Park um project and that will um legally need to be descertified in 2030. Um and then the following year in 2031, City Bella will be um descertified. And you can see we are projecting about 300 just under 315,000 in tax capacity for the Kensington project and about 664 for the city Bella. However, they are out of ways. So, um the one thing I can promise you is those numbers will change. So, on to the next slide. Thank you. >> Can I interrupt real quick? that um yeah $1 million if is my math right? That's about 2% of our total tax capacity tax levy. >> Am I way off there? >> I don't know the answer to that question. Sorry. >> That's okay. Thank you. >> I do not have that number with me. I'm sorry. I was looking at my small print here. I I don't I don't know that. But we can I can find out and get back to you on that. Um so the outstanding obligations um again I high I mentioned there were a couple types of obligations that are um that can be funded with tax increment. For the most part the city has always issued pay as you go notes to the developer. And with that, what it really means in simple terms is the developer funds the project um pays all the expenses. When it is done and the terms of the agreement are met, the city issues a note and then to the extent that the developer pays their taxes and follows the requirements in the development agreement, they receive a semiannual reimbursement of a portion of their taxes per per the agreement. Um the other type of one other type of obligation is a general obligation bond. Um there were two of these that the that we discussed last year during the update. Um one of the bonds related to the Best Buy project um has been paid in full the 2012b bonds and so those were retired in February of 2025. Um the third type of obligation is an interfund loan. And with that, those are typically um the city pays for some costs upfront and then uses tip to reimburse it or reimburse yourself. For the most part, there are things such as early administration um related to establishing a district. It could be used to pay for some project costs. that is something that is a risk on the city. Um you will see not always but for the most part um those are a little smaller amount and that again is something that many many times is tied with the initial setup of a tiff district. um for the pay as you go notes. I will note that um like as we look with the Best Buy project that is um being descertified because it's met its max statutory maximum for the term of the tip district, there is a balance outstanding on that pay as you go note. However, because it is a pay as you go note, the developer or Best Buy assume that risk. And so on your pay as you go notes, there is no responsibility for the city or the H to make that payment or pay it in full um at the time the TIF district is is descertified. that is a risk that um Best Buy will not get paid that full amount and that was part of the agreement if it wasn't fully advertised. Um one no or one I item I do want >> interrupt real quick. You have a question >> just to clarify in the Best Buy one maybe this is a distinction without a difference. When the TIFF is descertified, does that like officially go away or is there like theoretically an amount that they're owed that just they'll never get? >> Um I think there's two answers to that. Um how that is handled on their books from their standpoint I I don't know but from a city standpoint um we will descertify or the district will be descertified and the pay as you go note piece of it from a city standpoint goes away. >> Okay. And then there might be more more factors to this than that, but the the reason there's such a large outstanding balance is simply because their property was worth much less than we thought it was going to be worth. And so they're not really out any money. They just didn't pay the taxes to pay themselves back. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. Um yes, that was one where the amount when it was established um the amount that was anticipated for what that market value was was significantly higher than um where it ended up being with the minimum assessment agreement. And so, um, a note was sized based on a significantly more expensive project, but like you said, um, the project wasn't valued that high, and so they didn't pay taxes on that higher amount, but they also have a balance remaining on their pay as you go. >> Thank you. >> So, you said that the 2012b bonds are paid off. If from what I can see, does that mean that there are no other general obligation bonds related to TIFF districts? It's all pay as you go on inter fund loans. >> That is correct. >> Yes. >> All right. Thank you. >> Yes. >> Um and and you can see the three that are highlighted here in orange are um the ones that we are going to be re recommending um descertification or that automatically will descertify because they've reached their maximum. Um, I do want to note that the Emmy there is um a balance on that interf loan and assuming that you um do decide to move forward with the resolution to descertify that district, one of the actions that Ellers will work with your staff on um prior to year end is to use administration or funds from another TIP district to make that interf loan whole and close that out. So it has a zero balance for you at year end. Um the other item that I know there was a question so I just want to address is that um when we look at the Kensington project um there is a inter fun loan on this one of um about a million or there's two interfund loans and it's about um a million185,000. Um, with that, I just want to remind that that was a project um that the HR council at that point in time wanted to really see that site um cleaned up and redeveloped. And while it was always hoped that all of that um all of the obligations would be paid in full, it was not anticipated at the time that that district was established that it would be completely amortized. But again, the H and the council at that point in time um felt strongly enough about making sure that site was cleaned up and redeveloped that they were willing to take that risk. Um so that is the one um interf loan that at this point in time it is not projected to be completely amvertised. Um, we will continue to keep that district open, you know, until it is required to legally be descertified and continue to pay down that. Um, I will say one of the reasons it will not completely amortize it is is it also has a high interest rate and so we're paying principal and interest on it and with um the higher interest rate um I believe it's closer to eight seven to eight%. um you're getting funds and making payments, but we aren't seeing the needle on the principal moving significantly. But we'll continue to monitor that and um provide updates through through the descertification of that district. [cough] So, we can go on and talk um a little bit about some specific districts. First of all, the Interchange West Lindale Gateway District, um, this is required to be descertified. It has run its maximum term. So, even if you wanted to keep it open, you aren't able to. Um, and you will see the benefit of this project on the tax role for 2026. Um, this tip district does have two big projects in it. Um, one was the Richfield senior housing and with that we are estimating based on um, preliminary pay 26 market values that the city will see an estimated 532,600 in additional tax capacity for 26. Um, Best Buy we are estimating that there will be about 939,000 in additional tax capacity. Um just because this is one that we have really watched in recent years, I did add um that the market value for 2025 was um 69 million and according to the county's website um the pay 26 preliminary value is about just under um 62.5 million. So, I share that just because I know that has been an ongoing um question, especially when the um minimum assessment agreement came off. Um as I mentioned with this district, it is required. Um there will be a resolution later on that you can um consider and um choose to adopt. I will say it's going to descertify whether you take that formal action and adopt the resolution or not again because it has reached that maximum term. Um the urban village is in the same situation. It's reached its maximum term and regardless of what you do with the resolution later on this evening, um the county will descertify it at the end of the year and you will receive the benefit for um pay 2026. Um the estimated additional tax capacity for this is about $1 million. So um again another success for the work that that was done and um nice to see that finally be able to come on and and provide that benefit to the community. I am going to jump here and talk a little bit about the pooling opportunities um that we we um foreshadowed earlier. Again um with pooling that means that unobligated tiff can be used for um either redeveloping sites or helping build affordable housing. It does not this money does not require to be used in a tiff district. So it can be used anywhere in the project area for Richfield. Your project area is your city limits. So um these funds can be used anywhere within the city as long as it is meeting the requirements of redevelopment um per tiff statute or helping build affordable housing. Um we have identified three districts and again some of this is a little bit of a repeat from prior years but the um Lindell Gateway Interchange West and the urban village districts that we just discussed um have funds available for pooling along with the city bella district. So even though these districts will be descertified, those funds can remain if you choose to, you can continue to retain those funds and use them for um pooling opportunities. The one thing I will note is that um they will continue to need to be reported to the state auditor annually if you do retain the funds. But um with the dollar amounts that are available um that is definitely an option that you you can use them for future projects. Uh the three pooling options or types of pooling that are available are again um some special legislation for 10% um that could go to the housing trust fund. There's temporary legislation with your spending plan and then what we would call regular pooling and I'll talk about each of those here. Um, in 2021, the city and H received um special legislation that would allow an additional 10% from um your tax increment to be used for affordable housing. Um money from this 10% needs to be transferred out of the TIFF and into the housing trust fund that the HA set up. Um, in 2022 there was about 750,000 that was transferred and about 350,000 that had been spent to date. Um, you can see that you can make a transfer any time be before December 31st of 2026. And with this um you can see what what has been transferred and um where some of the expenditures have come. >> Rebecca. >> Yep. I just wanted to pipe in that um some of these numbers or were the hemple numbers are not showing up on the affordable in in this fund here with the special legislation. You'll remember that we transferred 1.3 million from the spending plan into the affordable housing trust fund and then spent it out out of here. However, the way that the charts are shown up, that ends up being zeroed out. So, you don't see it because it went in and then it came out. You'll see it on the next slide, but just to remind you, um 1.3 million did come in and out of this fund for that project. >> Thank you for that clarification. So, um let's jump back one slide to the temporary spending. Thank you. Um so, um another option is um as as Melissa said, there's temporary spending authority that goes through um December of 2026 to help stimulate private development. Um with this authority, there's a lot more flexibility on how the TIFF can be spent. So, it um really kind of threw a lot of the TIFF restrictions out the window on these very specific funds that were identified with this um temporary legislation. Um a spending plan was adopted in 2022. Um initially the funds needed to be spent by 2025 how by December 20 31st of 2025. However, um there was a change in our most recent legislative session that allows cities to extend that term through December of 26, provided that an amendment be done to um the spending plan. And so, as you go forward on the agenda later on this evening, there is a resolution that would recommend um extending the term of that spending plan for the the city and H one more year. And you can see again we are looking at um the same same funds with that spending authority. Um looking at the the funds that were unobligated in the Lindale Gateway Interchange West urban village and then the city Bellatip district. Um while the HA does have a resolution um this evening related to the spending plan um ultimately the city council then is required to hold a public hearing which is scheduled for November 25th and they will also take action after that public hearing which would be the final step to um make that extension. Um to the extent that funds have been put in this spending plan, if they are not spent by December 31st of 2026, they would um transfer back to to regular TIFF funds and you could use those um either through pooling or into the um housing trust fund. And that would be something that we will be monitoring and probably having discussions um with staff and with with the H um earlier in the year on how what is remaining and what you want to do. So um as we get into mid year in 26, we'll be back with more discussion on that specific item. And the final um pot for pooling is regular pooling um 25% that is available for any of your redevelopment tiff districts. Um with this I will remind you that um the city or and h can retain up to 10% for administration um which we try and do that does count against this 25%. So um while the law is 25% in reality if you're maximizing your admin it's about 15%. Um but again those can be these funds can be used for any um public redevelopment costs and they are tied um we've called out the Lindale Gateway, the urban village and city bella district and what is projected as we move forward. Um but some of your other um redevelopment tip districts also may have some percent of pooling that would be available. These are just the main ones that are producing the most. Um, again, a reminder that they do need to be spent on redevelopment tiff eligible projects. So, they're not just general fund, but um they they are available for redevelopment projects if you had um bladed buildings that you were looking to clean up or acquire or um other eligible tip expenses. >> Is there a time limit on those? [cough] Um, these funds are available um, for as long as you want to hold on to them. You will need as long as there are there's a fund balance in the the district, you will need to continue to report on it, but um, there is not a legal time that says they have to be spent within I'm going to make up five years after descertification. Yep. Um so with your districts, you do have a couple um housing tiff districts and as we look at housing districts and affordable housing, um there are different criteria that are out there. Um the criteria for TIFF statute is that 20% of the units either need to be at 50% area median income or 40% of the units need to be at 60% of area median income. Those numbers are updated annually um by HUD and Minnesota Housing. So they do adjust as as incomes adjust um for your rental projects. um such as the Woodlake Housing and the Chamberlain, they are required to remain affordable with those income limits for the entire um life of the TIFF district. Um you do have one owner occupied um housing the the RF64. um that project is was required to have the first owner meet um income at either 100 to 115% of Mary area median income. That was a one-time test. And so as those um units or homes um recycle, that affordability requirement does not remain on the for sale piece. Um, with housing districts, um, there is not that 25% pooling limit that we see with redevelopment. Um, there really is no limit. So, any unallocated tax increment that is not going to pay obligations could be used for um, future affordable housing projects that meet um, at minimum these requirements that are set forth in the TIFF statute. The two that we have identified um with some potential is Wood Lake and we are anticipating that um there will be about 3.3 million available for affordable housing by 2039. Um there continues to be a pay as you go note that is outstanding um through 2035 and so that is a set dollar amount of 175,000 per year. Um so anything above that is available today but then when that pay as you go note is paid in full in 2035. There will be about four years where we are anticipating that there will be about 260,000 in increment that again could be used specifically for affordable housing. um the Chamberlain project or 2017 tiff district 2017-1 we are anticipating um not quite 9 million by 2045 um there is a pay as you go note that is in place um we are anticipating through 2036 when that will be paid in or will be um done and then after that we would anticipate about 82 25,000 a year until the time the district is descertified in 2045. I will say with um both of these after that the obligation to the developer is paid in full um it really becomes then a policy decision on how you want to move forward. And so with what we've presented here, that assumes that you would keep the district open through the statutory maximum and then um collect th those funds for affordable housing. You do have the option after the obligations are paid in full to descertify them early, which would then put the property back on the tax role at at the um new market value. So, those are some policy um discussions that we'll continue to monitor and as we get closer to to those dates um the discussions that we'll be having with staff and and um elected or appointed officials. Um we have talked um historically about compliance um for the different districts. There isn't a lot to share this year. Um, we don't have any districts that had concerns with the four-year rule. Um, so we don't have a slide on that. There are two districts that are um having their five-year rule in March of 2026. And that means that in order to continue to move forward, they need to either um really they need to have an agreement in place and be having pro all of the expenses that will be reimbursed with tiff um paid out. Um I'm going to start at the bottom of this. The link 65 or Lyn View project um has a deadline in March of 26. They have met their five-year rule requirement. um that that project is has moved forward. Um costs have been submitted. No concerns with that. Um the ME or the 2020 2020-2 district. Um this was the area at the corner of um 10166 Street East. that project um as I'm sure you may know has not moved forward and at this point we do not see um a pathway to meet the requirements of the five-year rule by March of 2026. So there is a um resolution that would will be presented later on this evening and we are recommending that you do move forward with um descertifying that district because if you do not take that action um it will basically go go away in 26 regardless without having a developer um all of the tiff expenses done and an agreement in Um, a question if I may. Uh, if I remember correctly, this is a, so this is a redevelopment district, but >> um, you can fast forward to or go to the next slide with the Emmy. Yes, you are correct. >> It's a redevelopment district. So, the next developer that comes along will not be able to put together a redevelopment district, which yields more money to pay project costs. Is that correct? um partially. So yes, it is a redevelopment district and with um the descertification of this unless um there were other parcels and it was reconfigured it it likely cannot be another redevelopment district. Um I am not as familiar with all the individual parcels surrounding. My opinion is it would be hard to make it another redevelopment district. >> I think it would be >> okay. So with that um you could move forward or if if a developer came um a housing tip district could be set up there. Um with that it does have the same term as a redevelopment district. So um both of them have maximum terms of 26 years of increment. Um, so depending on what is built on the site, it it could generate about the same amount of increment. Um, with the project that was proposed that did not go forward, that was going to generate the same increment whether it was a housing district or a redevelopment district. Um the difference is now with it being a assuming it would be a housing district, there would be um those statutory requirements for income in there. And so they would suddenly need to have at minimum 20% of the units available for um people at 50% or 40% of the units available for people at 60% AMI. Um there also is in a housing district um you can have some retail or commercial there is a limit on how much you can have in there. So um with with the way that site and the plan um was designed that didn't move forward. Again um I believe we would have been fine with having a housing district with that that um smaller amount of commercial. You could not put a housing district and have like four and I know this wouldn't happen but for example four floors of commercial with two floors of housing. So the commercial piece is limited but that doesn't mean it's not an option. We would have to just look at the specific plans to make sure there wasn't too much commercial in it. >> Thank you. >> So does if we if it at some point switches to be a housing redevelopment or housing, excuse me, housing tiff district. Does the clock start over or does this five years get subtracted off of that or do you get the full 25? So, um what we are recommending is that that resolution for descertification be adopted which makes this go away and like it never happened basically. And so then when a new development comes forward, um a new tip district would need to be set up and like we discussed likely a housing one versus redevelopment and then the clock starts over. So it's it's just brand new clean slate to move forward. >> How um how limited is the commercial then in the housing district? You gave an example of like four floors of commercial, which would be fairly unrealistic in any situation. Could you have essentially street level commercial? Is that >> Yes, it's um Oh, gee. I I now I'm starting to question myself. I believe it is 15%. 1515. And so yes, um street level commercial on a site like that with multiple floors of um housing above it and um I believe there's parking you or at least on the plan there was parking underground. You would be just fine with um street level commercial. >> Just a clarification 15% of the total building square footage. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Um I touched on this the admin just again that reminder that you are able to um retain 10% for revenues and expenses for admin. Um so that helps with staff time um elers fees, attorney fees, um all of that. Um it it varies on what that 10% is tied to whether it is on increment or expenses depending on the type or the time when the district was established. But um that is something that we we work with staff and monitor. Um that 10% limit must be met though when the t district descertifies. So um you can't just you know take that 10% off the top. you have to have some documentation that those expenses um actually are being spent, [cough] excuse me, and it is not an annual calculation. So, we recognize um a lot of times when you're establishing the district and um staff might be really busy with a lot of that preliminary stuff, it may be heavy or more than 10% the first few years. At the end um when the district is operating well, it might be a little bit less. So that 10% looks at at the time the district is established overall it's 10%. Right? Um so again to kind of summarize what we've talked about today um the interchange west Lindell Gateway and the urban village um district will descertify in December. Um there are resolutions if you'd like to take formal action on that. But again, it's going to happen um regardless of of the resolution, the county will take care of that. Um the other districts generally are on track. Um we we don't have any concerns with that. Um we are recommending to take action to descertify the Emmy. um there's a tiny amount of value that will go back on um the tax role, but really what that does is um set a clean slate for for um a new developer and looking to the future for that. Um there also is that action then to amend the spending plan to extend the term one more year for 2026. And then just as we continue to look forward to the future, um we'll continue to work with staff on looking at those affordable housing opportunities. Um how money can be used in the um housing trust fund. As we know, we have one more year to um shift dollars into that and then um any of the pooling expenses that um may be relevant for other projects that are moving forward in the future. With that, I appreciate your patience. I know I dump a lot of information on you during this this annual update, but um appreciate the great questions and I'm happy to answer if there are any other ones. >> It's always great information. So, we always appreciate you being here and going through and, you know, talking through what tip is. I always send people to these um YouTube videos as they ask questions about it. So, I personally really appreciate that as well. Um, anybody have any last questions, comments? Start with >> Well, I I just basically have a comment. I want to thank you for the presentation. If there's any one thing that's always plagued with misinformation, it's tax [laughter] financing. So, I think uh presentation tonight arms us with a lot of good information that uh we can share with the public. >> Good. Thank you. you know, and if you do get questions or um need additional information on some of the the dis questions or discussions you're having, don't ever hesitate, you know, to reach out and I can work with staff and make sure that I get you you all the information that you need so you can can answer those questions because we do know there's a lot of misinformation out there. >> Mary, >> I just wanted to add my thanks to the what was expressed already because this was very clear and I appreciate that. Thank you. >> Thanks. And we will get to those resolutions later in our meeting. So, thank you for coming. >> Um, all right. Item number seven is our consent calendar. I will hand this over to executive director. >> Thank you, Chair Reese Daniels, members of the board. The consent calendar tonight contains only one item which is acted upon by the HA in one motion. Once the consent calendar has been approved, the individual items and recommended actions have also been approved. No further HR action on these items is necessary. However, any HA commissioner may request that an item be removed from the consent calendar and placed on the regular agenda for HA discussion and action. Item A and the single item on your consent calendar tonight is consideration of a resolution authorizing an amendment to the developer agreement with the West Henipin Affordable Housing Land Trust, also known as Walt. And I submit this for your approval. Thank you. >> Is there anyone who wants to remove this item from the consent calendar? No one. Is there a motion to approve? >> So moved. >> I'll second that. >> It has been moved and seconded. All those in favor say I. >> I. Opposed. The consent calendar has been approved. Um taking us to um item number nine. There is no public hearing. So we'll move on to item number 10, resolutions. Um and we'll start with 10A. Executive Director. >> Yes. Thank you. The your the first item for your consideration tonight, as we've discussed earlier, is an amendment to the 2022 spending plan for unobligated tax increment. In 2021, as we discussed tonight, the state legislature provided temporary authority to use unobligated tax increment from existing tax increment districts to help stimulate private development that would not otherwise occur. The legislation allowed greater flexibility in the use of these increment of this increment in order to create or retain jobs. On November 21st, 2022, the HA adopted a tax increment spending plan for up to $6,345,000 in unobl unobligated tax increment from the Lindel Gateway Interchange West, Urban Village, and City Bella uh tax increment financing districts. The 2021 temporary authority required projects to be under construction by the end of this year. Uh earlier this year, the legislature amended the temporary legislation to allow authorities to amend their spending plans to allow funds to be spend spent through the end of December or until December 31st, 2026. The city supported and advocated for that amendment. The amended spending plan, which is attached to your report, extends this deadline for using the funds. No other changes are proposed. The strategy to retain unobligated tax increment in the most flexible fund for the maximum amount of time continues. And as uh Rebecca discussed earlier tonight, if we get to December of 2026 and the funds are not spent, we would um we would have discussed earlier in the year our plan for those funds, whether we would want to move them to the housing trust fund or back into regular pooling. And I submit this for your consideration. Thank you. >> Thank you. I'll start with a motion and then we can discuss or ask questions. Is there a motion to approve the amendment to the 2022 spending plan? >> I'll make a motion to approve a resolution amending the tax increment spending plan. >> Uh second. >> It has been moved and seconded. Um any comments, questions, concerns? Um I'll just say it's great that we got the extension and that level of flexibility. So, I'm grateful for the state and everyone who helped with that. Um, seeing all else, all those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. The motion has been approved. Item number 10B. >> Thank you. Uh, this item is consideration of a resolution authorizing the descertification of tax increment financing district number 2020-2. We also discussed this earlier uh tonight. This is the Emmy district. On January 26, 2021, the city of Richfield created tiff district number 2020-2. The redevelopment tiff district was intended to provide assistance necessary to construct a mixeduse project on property at 10166 Street East. Several obstacles, including increased construction of material costs, have forced the developer to abandon the project. As of the end of this year, there will be no outstanding obligations related to the TIF district and no project could take place prior to the statutory deadlines. Staff and Ellers have recommended um that the TIF district be descertified. And I will note that um doing this now rather than waiting until March will will save us in administrative costs. As we mentioned, there is that inner fund loan that we'll look to repay. Um, if we continue this into 2026, then we will also be reporting then in 2027. Um, this takes care of it this year. We can report on it to the state auditor next year and close it out. >> Is there a motion for approval? >> I'll move to approve a resolution authorizing the descertification of tax increment financing district number 220 2020-2 me. I'll second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Any comments, questions? Thank you for the additional detail about why now. That was going to be my question, so I appreciate that. Um, seeing none, all those in favor say I. >> Opposed. The motion passes. Uh, item number 10 C. >> Thank you. We'll be asking the HA to consider a resolution authorizing descertification of the Urban Village TIFF district. The Urban Village District uh is also a redevelopment district. It was created to facilitate another mixeduse development located on the southeast corner of Lindale Avenue and 66th Street. The development includes the Woodlake Center, the Oaks on Pleasant Apartments and Beimo Bank. The TIFF district was certified on July 15th of 1999 as and is required to descertify at the end of this year. The tax increment revenue in the form of two pay as you go notes was paid to the developer to assist in property acquisition and excess site development expenses. While there remains a significant outstanding balance on the second note, neither the city nor the HR are obligated to pay this amount and all obligations are considered to be met. The 2026 estimated market value of the properties within the district is $73.6 million. This equates to an estimated $1 million in additional tax capacity in 2026. And as Rebecca also noted earlier, um you are not required to approve this resolution. This will happen automatically through the state auditor's office. However, it has been city policy uh to bring resolutions to the HA and city council for these items. Thank you. >> Is there a motion? I'll make a motion to approve a resolution authorizing descertification of the urban village tax increment financing district. >> Second. >> It has been moved and seconded. Any last comments, questions, concerns? >> Um, I just wanted to say this is a really like ideal example I think of TIFF gone right that it's been such a great contribution to our downtown area. The buildings have aged pretty well. I feel like if I had a magic wand with that development, like I would change like 8% of things. like it really just it uh it's done a really good job and it's done exactly what we've told the community it would do. So it's a really nice example of I think tiff grunt right for Richfield. So just happy to see it 25 years later. >> Anybody else? Seeing none uh there all those in favor say I >> I opposed. The motion passes taking us to item 10D. >> Thank you. I had some numbering in my packet. Sorry about that. Uh it item 10D um consider a resolution authorizing the descertification of the Interchange West and Lindel Gateway TIF District. The Interchange West and Lindel Gateway TI District is a re is also a redevelopment district. Uh it was created to facilitate site assembly for the Best Buy headquarters and to facilitate redevelopment along Lindel Avenue that created the Main Street Village senior housing projects and Castile Place Townous. The TIFF district was certified on June 14th of 1999 and is required to descertify at the end of the year. The HA pledged increment to repay uh general obligation bonds related to the Penn Avenue Bridge over Interstate 494 as well as payments on pay as you go notes uh to the housing projects and Best Buy. Final payment on the bonds was made in February. This obligation has been fully satisfied. There remains significant outstanding balances on some of the notes due largely to compounding interest. The city and H are not obligated to pay this amount and all obligations are considered to be met. There's an estimated uh 1,471,000 in additional tax capacity in 2026 anticipated due to the descertification of this tip district. Thank you. >> Oh, yep. Do the motion. Um, I'll move to approve a resolution authorizing descertification of the Interchange West Lindale Gateway Tax Increment Financing District. >> Is there a second? >> I'll second that. >> It has been moved and seconded. Any comments, questions, concerns? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? The motion passes. Thank you everyone. Um, that takes us to item number 11, other business. I don't believe there is any other business. Um, so we'll move on to item number 12, executive director's report. >> Thank you. I just have two items of note. Uh, first of all is that the Penn Station project, uh, the Johnny Opara's project on Penn Avenue hopes to close next week. Um, this week, I'm sorry, this week. Hopes to close this week. Uh, abatement will be the first thing that'll happen at those buildings. Um, there were several contractors out there last week. Um and then hopefully the project will be underway very soon after. And then also um the H perhaps was going to mention this but there will be an opening for an HA commissioner um in 2026. Chair Reese Daniels has reached her term limit. Um and so there is an application online for anyone who is interested in serving on the board. Uh that application is open for approximately one month. >> Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Um any H discussion items? I would just take on that I encourage people to apply. It has been a great pleasure the past nineish 10 years and goes by very quickly, very very quickly. So yes, go ahead. >> I'll say more later because you're with us for a few more months, but thank you very much for your service. I really do appreciate it. Of >> course. Um is there any other H discussion items? Seeing none, takes us to item number 14, approval of claims. Is there a motion to approve claims? >> I'll make a motion to approve claims. >> Uh second. >> It has been moved and seconded. Uh any comments, questions, concerns? All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. The claims have been approved. That takes us to adjournment. Thank you everyone. Need a break. Uh it is 8:06. I will call the uh Richfield Economic Development Authority meeting of November 17th, 2025 to order. Um roll call. >> Thank you. Attendance has been noted. >> Thank you. Um item number three is our open format open forum. As always, participants can share their comments in person by voicemail or email and also can request to participate virtually. Um, you can always get more information by submitting comments and referring to the EDA agenda and minutes page on the city website. There is no one here for open forum. And I'll check. Did anyone call in? >> We did not receive any calls. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, that takes us item number four, approval of the agenda. Is there a motion to approve the agenda? >> Uh, so moved. >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Any comments, questions, changes? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. I opposed. The agenda has been approved. Takes us to item number five, approval of the minutes of the regular economic development authority meeting of August 18th, 2025. Is there a motion for approval? >> I make a motion to approve the minutes. >> Is there a second? >> Uh second. >> Uh it's been moved and seconded. Any comments, changes? See? None. All those in favor say I. >> I. Opposed. The minutes have been approved. Item number six, presentations. I don't believe we have any presentations for the EDA this evening. So, it takes us to item number seven, our consent calendar. I'll hand it over to still executive director Pilman. Yes, thank you. >> Yes. Thank you, President Daniels. Members of the board, uh consent the consent calendar contains a single item tonight. It is acted upon by the EDA in one motion. Once the consent calendar has been approved, the individual items and recommended actions have also been approved. No further ADA action is necessary on these items. However, any member may request that an item be removed from the consent calendar and placed on the regular agenda for discussion and action. Uh the single item on your consent calendar tonight is consideration of an amended agreement with the center for energy and environment to authorize the budget for the administration of the apartment remodeling program for 2026. And I submit this for your consideration. >> Thank you. Is there any item that any commissioner would like to move from the consent calendar? Seeing none, is there a motion to approve the consent calendar? >> I'll move to approve the consent calendar. >> Second. >> It's been moved and seconded. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed. The consent calendar has been approved. Uh taking us then to item number nine, public hearings. I do not believe we have any public hearings. Um item number 10, resolutions. We have no resolutions. Uh we have no other business. Item number 11, taking us to item number 12, executive director's report. >> Thank you. I do not have a report tonight. >> Uh item number 13 then EDA discussion items. Are there any EDA discussion items? Seeing none, uh that takes us to item number 14, approval of claims. Is there a motion to approve claims? >> I move approval. >> Second. I'll second. >> It's been moved and seconded. Any comments, questions, concerns? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. Opposed. The claims have been approved and that is a journment. Thank you everyone.